In many ways, we have never been less healthy. Nearly 100 million adults in the United States are obese. At any given time, almost 13 million adults in the United Kingdom show symptoms of anxiety or depression.

Physical activity, known to protect against these costly conditions, is simply not something most of us engage in on a regular basis. For good reason too — it’s hard, our built environments discourage it and the health benefits are, for the most part, delayed.

Luckily, recent advances in mobile technology and behavioural science have spurred new research in this area that may help some of us start and stick with more physically active lifestyles.

A new study shows that very small financial incentives (as little as pennies a day) administered as a short “dose” may drive sustained physical activity. These findings, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, contradict more than 50 years of psychology research.

A realistic 500 extra steps per day

In the past, the prevailing opinion was that health rewards, like paying people to lose weight, simply do not work. They may stimulate health behaviours in the short term but once removed, people will go back to doing what they were doing before, or worse.

By introducing extrinsic rewards you can actually damage (or shift focus from) the important intrinsic motivators that drive long-term change — for example, walking simply because you like to.

This line of thinking was grounded primarily in research that paid people to do enjoyable tasks, like completing puzzles. If you pay someone to do something they like doing, the research went, they are less likely to continue to do it once the payments stop.

Our new British Journal of Sports Medicine study, led by scientists from Western University and the New York University School of Medicine, challenges the assumption that these findings can be extended to the use of incentives for health behaviour change.

In fact, it appears that incentives tied to the achievement of realistic physical activity goals — like 500 additional steps per day — can actually stimulate physically active lifestyles that persist for several months after rewards are withdrawn.

Despite overwhelming evidence that habitual physical activity is good for our health, far too few of us engage regularly. To move the needle, we must embrace innovations. Many decision makers have embraced these new solutions, but there is plenty of room to improve.

Supercharging the latest in mobile health technology with strong behavioural science-informed designs is one way forward. Money for moving may be a good idea after all.

Source
Marc Mitchell
The Conversation